Food products such as sliced luncheon meats, sliced cheeses and the like have long been packaged in trays having a lidstock cover. The trays can be pre-made trays made from various thermoplastic materials such as foamed polystyrene. Alternatively, trays can be formed from a web of thermoplastic material on the packaging machine at a food processing/packaging facility. The latter makes use of horizontal form/fill/seal equipment (such as thermoforming equipment) available from e.g. Multivac, for converting flat thermoplastic forming web into formed pockets to create trays for containing the food product. In either case, the food product is manually or automatically placed in the tray, a lidstock (also known as a non-forming web) is brought over the top of the filled tray, the filled tray is typically vacuumized or gas flushed, and the lidstock is hermetically sealed to the tray, e.g. by a perimeter heat seal on the tray flange, or a total seal which includes both a perimeter seal and a secondary seal, to finish the package. Opening of the finished package (i.e. opening with the use of tools such as scissors or knives) can provide access to the food product by the consumer. In some instances, a reclosable feature is included to permit the package to be easily reclosed, although typically not in a hermetic manner.
Food packagers often require on their packages, decorative or informational printed labels that carry their trademark or logo, the nature of the food product in the package, and other indicia. This in turn requires either the food packager, or the supplier of the lidstock material, to install discrete printed labels either on individual packages after they are made, or on the lidstock itself in some registered manner that avoids undesirably offset labels. Any of these processes is less than ideal, and adds cost to the production of the package.
There is a need in the marketplace for a packaging arrangement whereby lidstock can be produced by a supplier of lidstock, that can be used in a manner that requires little or no modification to the food packager's packaging equipment, while providing both a manually (i.e. by hand, without the need for tools such as scissors or knives) openable and reclosable feature, and hermeticity of the package when made.
There is a need in the marketplace for a packaging arrangement whereby printed lidstock can be produced by a supplier of lidstock, without the use of discrete labels, and in a manner that requires little or no modification to the food packager's packaging equipment, while also providing both a manually openable/reclosable feature, and hermeticity of the package when made.
There is also a need in the marketplace for a thermoformed, lidded package where the lidstock carries printed indicia, in the absence of a discrete printed label.
The present invention relates to hermetically sealed packages which are manually openable and reclosable and are adapted to package any suitable product, e.g. perishable food products such as sliced food products such as sliced luncheon meat or cheese. The package is manually openable and reclosable, and maintains a hermetic seal until the package is opened, at which time reclosable access is gained to the contents of the package. The lidstock of the package is optionally printed with decorative or Informational print.